New California Law Requires Disclosure of Title IX Exemptions: As reported by The Advocate, last Friday California’s Gov. Jerry Brown signed S.B. 1146 (full text) into law. The new law requires religiously affiliated schools in California that have obtained an exemption from any of the anti-discrimination provisions of Title IX or California’s Equity in Higher Education […]
Constitutional Exceptionalism: (Note: one free download) This article argues that the legal doctrine of religious exceptionalism carries dangers of excess and potentially does harm. Students can study it as a position for limiting the scope of legal exceptions and for its interpretation of harm and who defines harm.
Creationist receives six-figure legal settlement from public university: A creationist scholar recently received a six-figure settlement from California State University Northridge, a payout that resolved a 2-year-old lawsuit that alleged the scholar had been fired after discovering soft tissue on a triceratops horn and publishing his findings.
China Seeks Tighter Grip in Wake of Religious Revival: This NYT article discusses new measures in China intended to tighten government oversight of religious activities including Christian schools, limits of access to religious writings, and to the internet.
Opening up some legends: Mormons reveal founder Joseph Smith’s ‘theocracy’ plans — Church Historian’s Press has issued an annotated volume in its ongoing Joseph Smith Papers series: “Administrative Records: Council of Fifty Minutes, March 1844–1846,” ($59.95). These legendary texts have been kept ultra-secret the past 170 years. And for good reason, writes Richard Ostling.
Focus on the Family has sponsored a third annul Bring Your Bible to School Day for Christians attending public schools. “This year’s Bring Your Bible to School Day comes as confusion continues over students’ religious freedoms.” Various sources estimate participation at 300,000, up from 8000 on the first such day in 2014.
Top Evangelical College Group to Dismiss Employees Who Support Gay Marriage: InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA says it will start a process for “involuntary terminations” for any staffer who comes forward to disagree with its positions on human sexuality, which hold that any sexual activity outside of a husband and wife is immoral. This Time article can […]
Can we be religious without God? Alain de Botton on “atheism 2.0.”: Atheism comes in different types. Alain de Botton (Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believers Guide to the Uses of Religion) opened the storefront congregation for atheiests called “School of Life” in 2008, offering an atheism more in the tone of Bergson than Dawkins and […]
How Science Became a Weapon in the Mommy Wars: In the shifting battle lines of the mommy wars (nursing, vaccination, gender), scientific studies have become a common weapon. Discerning pseudo-science from bona fide science takes work–research isn’t as straightforward as we might hope. Science is a messy pursuit for understanding, but learning a bit more about the […]
Why the Whole Church Needs Psalm 137, Violent Imagery and All — A review of Song of Exile: The Enduring Mystery of Psalm 137 by David W. Stowe (Oxford University Press, 2016). Part exegetical commentary, part cultural history, part personal rumination, Stowe’s book maps the experience of the psalm to the experience of Israel and, in turn, […]
